


Steve Harrington is a Damn Good Babysitter

by hashtagimanartist



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artist Will Byers, But also not, Coming Out, Gay Will Byers, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Heart-to-Heart, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Season/Series 03, Sad Will Byers, Soccer Mom Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has a Potty Mouth, We do NOT stan Lonnie Byers in this household, and no one is moving, because i dont like that people died so they arent dead in this, rated teen for language just be aware btw, that should be a tag lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 22:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19839373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hashtagimanartist/pseuds/hashtagimanartist
Summary: Will and Steve have a Conversation(TM).TW for Homophobia/Homophobic Slurs.





	Steve Harrington is a Damn Good Babysitter

**Author's Note:**

> TW/// Homophobic Slurs  
> *  
> *  
> Will says the things he is called at school/by his father and I added some that we didn't hear in the show, but probably would have been used during the time.

Will felt sick to his stomach.

Sitting in the Wheelers’ basement with everyone else coupled up made him feel… isolated. Mike and El were cuddled up under the blanket fort, and Lucas and Max were sitting on the couch, Max laying across Lucas’s lap with her feet over the arm. Dustin wasn’t technically paired up, but he was absolutely raving about Suzie whilst reading the newest Spider-Man comic.  
Will sat on the floor with his sketchbook open to a blank page, unable to find the inspiration to create.

It’s not that he hated being the only one without a girlfriend, and he definitely wasn’t mad at anyone. Will was only frustrated with himself because of what Mike said the day Will snapped and gave up trying to get anyone to hang out anymore.

“It’s not my fault you don't like girls.”

So Mike knew. Somehow, Mike knew. Even though Will had done his absolute best to hide it, to change it, Mike knew. And if Mike knew he was… different, maybe he also knew about his feelings. Specifically his annoying crush on Mike. It’s not like he ever acted on it, or pushed too far with touching. Will was too determined to not be what society called people like him. Will wasn't a predator, he was just a fourteen year old kid who already had enough to deal with throughout the past few years. 

He always kept his touches to a minimum, and he never crossed a line.

And yet, Mike knew.

Did that mean other people knew too? Did the rest of the party know? Will figured his brother suspected, at least, he thought he did. When Will first came back from the Upside Down, and people called him zombie boy, he told Jonathan that people called him a freak (among other things…) and tried to get Jonathan to understand his actual meaning behind the words. Since his response was “I’m a freak too,” Will wasn’t so sure now. His mom had to know. With everything Lonnie said about him, there was no way. She never brought it up though, so neither did he.

At present, the basement door opened, and Steve Harrington, who agreed to babysit whilst all the parents (minus Joyce, she and Hopper were doing their own thing) went out for a fancy meal, came down.

“Alright shitheads, wrap it up, it's time for bed,” he said, flinging the dish rag over his shoulder and twirling his finger to gesture everyone to stand. “I promised all the parents you’d be in bed by ten, so c’mon.”

When no one moved, he clapped his hands twice. “Did I stutter? Now, please!”

Everyone trudged along and up the stairs toward the bedrooms, except Will. He was still sat staring at the blank page before him.

“C’mon, Byers. You too.” Steve offered an arm for Will to take. The boy stood, making eye contact with Steve briefly before looking away. Jonathan told him what happened, what word came out of Steve’s own mouth, after he went missing two years ago, and it was hard to look past. When Will began to shake slightly, Steve put one hand on Will’s shoulder, and one on the back of his head, gently rubbing to try and calm him down.

“You okay kid?”

No response.

“Will?”

Nothing. 

“Do you need me to call your mom?”

Will shook his head slightly. “N-no.”

Steve got on his knees so he was about eye level with Will’s nose. “Will? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Will couldn’t hold it in any longer. The boy broke down and began to cry, when Steve gently pressed Will’s head into his own shoulder, attempting to bring comfort.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Whatever it is, we’ll get through this, you and me. Okay?”

Will’s tears slowed, and he nodded.

“You, you have to prom- promise me something.” Will sniffed and shook his head. “Swear.”

“What is it, Will?”

“Promise- promise me.”

“Okay. I promise…?”

“That you won’t hate me.”

“Hate you? God, Will, why would I hate you? You’re probably the sweetest kid in this whole damn town.”

“Because they’re right about me.”

“Who?” Steve cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “Right about what?”

“You’re honestly telling me that you’ve never heard anyone in Hawkins talk about me? Not a word? I find that hard to believe.”

“Nothing I can think of just now, other than ‘zombie boy’ and you and I both know that story. Just tell me kid, I’m sure it's fine-”

“Everyone talks about me! And they’re all right! Troy and his goons, my dad, everyone!” Will didn’t know why he was suddenly spilling his guts to the very person who called his brother queer two years ago, but it was too late to stop now.

“They call me queer, and fairy, and frilly, and sissy, and gross, and unnatural, and disgusting and fag, and they’re all right. I am exactly what they say I am, and I get beat up or picked on every day because of it! I’m the reason my dad left my mom, because he couldn’t stand the idea of having a queer for a son. And now my stupid crush on my best friend won’t go away and somehow he knows and from our brief gloss over it, he doesn’t care for it very much.”

Will’s sobs returned, and this time, he didn’t let Steve try and hug him. He stepped back, until he felt his foot step on the open sketchbook. He looked down at the pages, and watched as a single fat tear dripped off of his chin and hit the crisp yellow paper. 

“Oh” was all Steve could manage.

Will let himself drift back onto the floor as he brought his knees up towards his chest and buried his face in his arms. Heaving sobs were now muffled, and Steve sat fully on the ground as well.

“Hey, hey. Will.” He brought his hand up to the trembling boy’s shoulders and didn’t miss the way he flinched at Steve’s touch. “It's okay, it's okay. I promise it's okay. Those people are assholes, alright? Don't know what the hell they're talking about.”

“What about you, then?” Will lifted his head but refrained from looking at Steve directly.

“Me?”

“Jonathan told me what you called him.”

Steve’s heart dropped to his stomach. “Oh, right.” He sighed, regret filling his person from top to bottom. Especially knowing Robin now, he truly wishes he kept his mouth shut while he was still that popular asshole. He shakes his head. “That was ignorant and hateful of me. I hate that I said that. Really and truly I do, and there isn’t anything that I can say that will make it better, but I’m sure as hell going to try.

“You aren’t dirty, Will. You aren’t disgusting, you aren’t unnatural, and you aren’t deserving of any of that shit. You just happen to be a boy who likes boys, and that’s okay. I swear to you. Anyone that chooses to only see you for that is a dickhead, and is missing out on getting to know such a badass kid.”

“You… you think I'm badass?”

“Hell yeah, I do! You survived being abducted by a monster, being possessed by another, and you endure shit every day that not everyone can take. A total badass.”

“I'm not a coward for hiding from the Demogorgon, or for not fighting back?”

“Of course not, kid. You were smart, and you're strong.”

“Yeah?” A hint of a smile made its way onto Will’s face, as Will brought himself to look Steve in the eyes. 

“Yeah.”

“So… Mike, huh?” Steve raised an eyebrow, and a blushing Will threw his face back into his arms, laughing nervously. 

“I never said his name, though. How-”

“You said your best friend, and I’ve noticed that you and Mike are just… closer.” It was true, he wasn’t a stranger to the way Will’s gaze lingered on Mike during hangout sessions, or how they almost always sat next to each other whenever they could.

“Yeah, but…” Will’s smile left. “He- he snapped at me. ‘It's not my fault you don't like girls’ he said. But it was just so… hostile. And he didn’t change or rephrase anything; he didn't backtrack and say ‘I meant it's not my fault you don't have a girlfriend,’ or ‘It's not my fault you're a bit lonely,’ I don't know. He could have said anything else.”

“My suggestion would be to just talk about it.” Steve shrugged. “If he already knows, his reaction can’t be that bad, I mean he was literally two feet away from you, even in the tent, fort, whatever.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, I don't. I know so.” He clapped Will on the back, and helped him to his feet again. He ducked down for a moment to hand Will his sketchbook. “C’mon kid. Let’s get some sleep.”


End file.
